


Bargains Galore!

by EndlessHorizon



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: #notallheroeswherecapes, (pls don't come for me because I forgot someone lmao), Alternate Universe - Grocery Store, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Target!, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, Inspired by Coleydoesthings, Shopping, The Author Regrets Nothing, author has only been to Target once and is not american, but she's been to Countdown and K-Mart enough to know what's up, more characters will come as the story progresses, she was joking but im not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:09:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27681994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EndlessHorizon/pseuds/EndlessHorizon
Summary: When young Peter Parker lands a summer job at his local Target, he is prepared (and even, embarrassingly, a little excited) for the great staff discounts. But he ends up with a bit more than he bargained for when he meets his fellow co-workers. Follow his adventures - and misadventures - as he joins the workforce, makes some quick cash, and ends up with a few lasting friendships along the way.Can Peter help the unsung heroes of Target Queens fight off kleptomaniacs and face Karens at every turn? Only time will tell.The Avengers! Target EditionTarget AU inspired by Coley's new video where she talks about fanfic AUs and mentioned this as an example AU.
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Kudos: 9





	1. Preview

Peter ran his hand through his hair as he glanced at his watch under the heat of the summer sun. 11:47am. 

“Damn,” he muttered to himself, as he hurried across the street, backpack in tow. He was  _ not  _ going to be late for his first shift. The job interview had gone well and he supposed the manager had seemed enthusiastic about hiring him, but if he messed this up, he’d have to go hunting around for another minimum wage job. Not to mention how embarrassing it would be! An image of ten or so workers, frowning or trying not to smirk as the manager berated him and showed him the door, set his mind whirring into panic again. No. He was not going to do this to himself. He had to think positively and be confident, just like Aunt May said.

"Or they won't hire you," she had also added, "they don't want someone who can't speak for themselves." At least Peter had advanced past that step. Now, onwards and upwards!

With that, he pressed on, stepping onto the road mere milliseconds before the traffic man turned green - not something he would normally do, but he had a place to be. Eventually, he spotted the big red sign, saw a man stumble as he tried to manage a line of shopping carts, and knew. 

He had arrived. 


	2. Customer Craziness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter arrives at Target ready for his new shift, but some customer-caused commotion catches his attention. He later meets one of his new co-workers who proves to be a bit of a character.

Peter ran his hand through his hair as he glanced at his watch under the heat of the summer sun. 11:47 am.

“Damn,” he muttered to himself, as he hurried across the street, backpack in tow. He was _not_ going to be late for his first shift. The job interview had gone well and he supposed the manager had seemed enthusiastic about hiring him, but if he messed this up, he’d have to go hunting around for another minimum wage job. Not to mention how embarrassing it would be! An image of ten or so workers, frowning or trying not to smirk as the manager berated him and showed him the door, set his mind whirring into panic again.

With that, he pressed on, stepping onto the road mere milliseconds before the traffic man turned green - not something he would normally do, but he had a place to be. Eventually, he spotted the big red sign, saw a man stumble as he tried to manage a line of shopping carts, and knew. 

He had arrived.

Strolling through the automatic doorway, he took in the sight of the rows of isles, the bright lights and the array of customers pushing carts full of items around the store. What a sight.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed some commotion happening near the customer service desk. Turning, he saw a blonde young man, who looked pretty stressed if you asked Peter, trying in vain to calm a woman waving her purse in his face.

“I am sorry ma'am, but that item is past its date of return. We cannot accept it after 90 days.”

 _90 days?_ He thought. _Jeez! What did you do, forget it in the boot of your car?_

“This is absolutely ridiculous! I told you already, I only left it in the boot of my car, it’s not damaged-”

“-There does appear to be a dent on the-”

“-Just who do you think you are?” She paused, hands-on-hips like a lion about to pounce on its prey. “I am a loyal customer of this store.” A finger was raised and then pointed straight at the unfortunate customer service operator. “I have been coming here for _years_! I do not deserve this disrespect. I would like to speak to your manager.” Wow. Peter continued standing there awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do next. There was no way he was going over there, he hadn’t even technically started work yet. But that woman was being really unfair.

Luckily for the man at the desk, Peter saw a familiar figure approach.

“Hi ma’am, what do you need help with?” It was the manager of the store (his new _boss!_ ) Mr Rogers. As soon as he finished speaking, the woman launched into an explanation of the terrible customer service she had received and how the “stupid idiot at the desk” should be fired. Whatever Mr Rogers said must have done something though, because the woman sighed, ran a hand through her short, blonde haircut and stormed off.

“Peter! Good to see you,” Mr Rogers waved in his direction. Sheepishly, Peter approached him. Mr Rogers seemed to sense his unease. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry about that,” he threw a sideways glance at the customer angrily charging out the door. "Vis is new to the customer service position. I appointed him because he can keep pretty calm, I've never seen him lose his temper." He shot another glance at the man, smiling at him when caught his nervous look. He turned back to Peter. "Some customers can be brutal. He's still getting used to it."

"Oh, um, hi Mr Rogers." Yikes. That was pretty awkward. Peter clutched his arm nervously, unsure of what to say next.

"First of all son, nobody calls me Mr Rogers around here. You can just call me Steve," he focused Peter with an easy smile.

"Sure, okay, hi Steve!" Peter showed what he hoped was his best and most convincing smile, but inside he was kicking himself. _You idiot! Why would you introduce yourself twice?_ Steve seemed to take it in stride though and prompted Peter to follow him.

As they walked, he briefed Peter on his tasks for the next while. "You'll be starting in the electronics department. We've been finding things a little chaotic lately and need an extra pair of hands to move stock and help the customers." Peter nodded, taking in the surroundings. He’d come to this Target a few times now and then, but admittedly, he’d been more of a Walmart guy before applying for the job. This tech department was way bigger than what he was used to. It seemed to stretch for miles - okay, that might be a slight exaggeration - but it covered a decent portion of the store. He could get used to this!

"I remember in your interview you said you were good with computers?"

“Oh, well, they’re pretty fun to put together and take apart, and coding’s cool too, I guess.” Peter looked at the floor, feeling embarrassed at having to answer such a question. He hated talking about his skills, that was the worst part of writing his resume. Steve just smiled in that easy-going way of his and seemed unfazed.

“Great! Well, I’m sure Tony and Bruce will be glad to have your help.” 

They made their way around the store, which thankfully was pretty empty this time of day. As they neared the department, Peter was able to make out a man pointing to some kind of large object while a woman looked on with curiosity. Getting closer, their voices became clearer. "So this one over here, bargain! Daylight robbery, if you ask me," the man gestured to a large printer with a bright red '20% off!' sticker attached to it. The woman standing in front of him appeared deep in thought. "But, _this_ one uses the new Vibrant Precision Laser Ink," he patted the top of a slightly smaller model and waggled his eyebrows. "So that means better colours, that photo of granny and the kids: _crisp HD_ , baby," he finished with a dazzling smile and folded his arms confidently over his chest. The woman still looked unsure but appeared mildly entertained by his theatrics.

"Okay… okay, okay, I'll get that one." She smiled as the man handed her a large box, which she struggled with for a moment, but then set off in the direction of the counter. Looking satisfied with himself, he dusted his hands off. "Another happy customer. Oh, hey boss!” 

Steve prompted Peter to come closer. "Tony, this is Peter, he's going to be joining us for the summer." The man, Tony, held his hand out, presumably for Peter to shake. Oh no. Here he was about to do it all wrong. Flashbacks to his handshake mishap back in middle school flashed to the forefront of his mind. He'd somehow managed to miss his teacher's hand when he was given a certificate and nearly fell over in front of the whole class. No way could that happen again! Plus, this Tony guy seemed kind of cool and Peter wanted to make a good first impression. After all, he'd be seeing these people for the rest of the summer, he didn't want to set himself up to fail so early on. He grabbed the man's hand, not missing this time, and gave it a shake. _Wow!_ He thought, _this guy has a firm grip!_

“Good to meet you, Peter,” he said, smiling warmly.

“Nice to meet you too, uh- sir.” Tony smirked at that and Peter wanted to fall through the floor again. 

“Okay, Spiderling,” he replied. Um… _what?_ Peter could tell this guy was one of those flamboyant, spontaneous types but that seemed to come from _nowhere_. 

“You have a cartoon spider on your shirt,” he pointed at Peter’s chest. “I gotta say, an interesting choice for someone finishing high school, but hey, who am I to judge?” Oh. 

“Wait, how did you know I-” 

“Over here, new recruit, I need someone to help me stick these new sale signs up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, there you go. More coming soon, and more characters will be popping up (trust me, I've got some great backstories planned for a few of Peter's co-workers).. Hope you're all looking forward to the madness that is: "The Avengers but they work at Target" :))
> 
> Also side note: I really wanted to call the carts trolleys but these characters are American so yay for trying to be authentic - you really didn't ask, but now you know

**Author's Note:**

> Well! Writing this was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but I actually have quite a few ideas planned and I only have a couple more school exams left before I'm on holiday, so you best believe I will be updating ASAP. Also, please please please go subscribe to ColeyDoesThings on YouTube if you haven't already. She said "Marvel Target AU" and I said, "yes". But if you read fanfiction, chances are you already watch her or would be interested in her content. So go give her some clout :)


End file.
